Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane crashes in Karachi

A jetliner carrying 98 people has crashed in a crowded neighbourhood near the airport in Pakistan's port city of Karachi after an apparent engine failure during landing.

Officials said there were two survivors from the plane but also found at least 57 bodies in the wreckage. It was unknown how many people on the ground were hurt as the Pakistan International Airlines jet, an Airbus A320, ploughed into an alley and destroyed at least five houses.

The pilot was heard transmitting a mayday to the tower shortly before the crash of Flight 8303, which was flying from Lahore to Karachi and carrying many travelling for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Video on social media appeared to show the jet flying low over a residential area with flames shooting from one of its engines.

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The plane went down at 2.39pm local time, north-east of Jinnah International Airport in the poor and congested residential area known as Model Colony between houses that were smashed by its wings. Police in protective masks struggled to clear away crowds amid the smoke and dust so ambulances and fire trucks could reach the crash site.

As darkness fell, crews worked under floodlights, and a portable morgue was set up. The Sindh provincial health department said it had recovered 57 bodies, while PIA chairman Arshad Malik said finding all the dead could take two to three days.

Pakistan's civil aviation authority said the plane had 91 passengers and a crew of seven. The A320 can carry up to 180 passengers, depending on how its cabin is configured.

At least two people aboard survived, according to the health department, revising an earlier statement that three were alive.

Local TV stations showed video of a man on a stretcher that they identified as Zafar Masood, the head of the Bank of Punjab. Malik later confirmed that Masood survived the crash.

At least three people on the ground were injured.

Pakistan had resumed domestic flights earlier this week ahead of the Eid-al Fitr holiday marking the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. Pakistan has been in a countrywide lockdown since mid-March because of the coronavirus, and the airline has been using social distancing guidelines on its flights by leaving every other seat vacant.

Volunteers look for survivors after a plane crashed into a residential area of Karachi.Credit:AP

Southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, is the epicentre of virus infections in Pakistan. The province has nearly 20,000 of the country's more than 50,000 cases.

A transmission of the pilot's final exchange with air traffic control, posted on the website LiveATC.net, indicated he had failed to land and was circling around to make another attempt.

"We are proceeding direct, sir - we have lost engine," a pilot said.

"Confirm your attempt on belly," the air traffic controller said, offering a runway.

Airworthiness documents showed the plane last received a government check on November 1, 2019. PIA's chief engineer signed a separate certificate on April 28 saying all maintenance had been conducted. It said "the aircraft is fully airworthy and meets all the safety" standards.

Perry Bradley, a spokesman for GE, said the firm was "aware of reports of the accident and is closely monitoring the situation".

Airbus said the plane had logged 47,100 flight hours and 25,860 flights as of Friday. The plane had two CFM56-5B4 engines.

Airbus said it would provide technical assistance to investigators in France and Pakistan, as well as the airline and engine manufacturers.

"We at Airbus are deeply saddened by the tragic news of flight #PK8303," tweeted Executive Director Guillaume Faury. "My thoughts and those of my Airbus colleagues, go to the families and loved ones affected. In aviation, we all work hard to prevent this. Airbus will provide full assistance to the investigating authorities."

In Pakistan's most recent deadly crash, 47 people died when a PIA jet smashed into a mountainside in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in 2016. The country's worst plane disaster came in 2010 when an AirBlue flight crashed, killing 152 people near Islamabad.